Latino Heat, Eddie Guerrero enters first for the next bout and the crowd is giving him some heat. There is even a sign that reads “Dirtiest Mullet in the Game”. A shout out to that dude and his sweet sign. Edge enters through a puff of smoke next and he is granted a much friendlier welcome from the fans. Edge was rumored to have been planned to face Benoit here for the IC Title but the wanted it to transfer to RAW, and Edge was Team SmackDown. Edge hits the ring, and after he pumps the fans up, he removes his white trench coat and the bell sounds soon after. Edge comes out of the collar and elbows on top and maintains the advantage after he flapjacks Guerrero to the mat. It quickly becomes Eddie’s turn to go on the offensive after he reverses Edge’s suplex by landing feet first on the apron. He hits Edge with a neckbreaker over the top rope, but is quick to return to the ring to resume the attack. Guerrero’s offensive strike don’t last long and after Edge leap frogs him, the momentum switches again. Edge delivers a scoopslam next that he follows with a pin but only gets a two count. He ties Eddie’s arms in the rope and delivers a spear to the unguarded midsection of Guerrero. Edge tries another one but this time Guerrero moves and Edge flies through the rope, to the outside. Edge appears to have injured his shoulder here, so Guerrero joins him on the outside and slams the injured arm into the ring stairs. Eddie returns Edge to the ring and continues to stomp the shoulder.

Edge’s shoulder would become the target of Eddie from here on out. A single arm DDT is first, and after some arm wrenching, Eddie goes to the top turnbuckle to hit another single arm DDT. Guerrero goes for the cover but Edge is still able to kick out. Guerrero applies an arm lock, but after quite some struggle, Edge manages to find the ropes. After some shoulder stomps, Eddie locks a crossface chicken wing onto the kneeled Edge. Edge escapes with a snapmare but Eddie is quick to take him back to the mat and lock in a Fujiwara armbar. Edge powers his way out of the hold but Guerrero is quick to suplex him and apply yet another armbar. As far as telling a story goes, Eddie is doing a great job with all the arm work. Edge escapes again, and when Eddie comes hot off the ropes he is met with a lightning fast scoopslam. This leaves both men prone on the mat but after some time they make it to their feet at the same time. Edge lands the clothesline and he has his first advantage in a moment.  Edge backdrops Eddie before he puts him in the corner. Edge is really selling the injured shoulder here and is doing his best not to use it. Edge charges Guerrero in the corner next but Guerrero plants an elbow onto Edge’s jaw to stop the charge. This has quite the smack and must have made some good contact here. Edge reverses Guerrero’s attempted suplex with a suplex of his own. Edge sends him over the top rope and crashing to the floor though. Edge slow climbs to the top turnbuckle next and flies to the outside to hit Guerrero with a crossbody. When Edge makes contact Eddie bounces right off him and into the security rail. A nice bump for sure. Edge is quick to return Eddie to the ring before he starts to climb the top turnbuckle again. Guerrero gets to his feet first and meets Edge up top. Edge hits some punches to the midsection to stop Guerrero’s suplex attempt and this allows Edge to hit a falcon arrow, of sorts, off the top rope. He makes the cover but Guerrero gets the shoulder up. He heads to the corner next to wait in anticipation to unleash the spear. When Guerrero returns to his feet, Edge strikes but Guerrero welcomes him with a dropkick to the chin. A great spot here. Eddie goes up top to attempt one of the greatest frogsplashes in the business, but Edge gets the knees up. An Edgecution, a lifting DDT, is next for Guerrero to take but he again manages to kick out when the cover is made. The setup is made for another Edgecution but this time Guerrero counters it with a suplex into a bridge pin. But Edge isn’t done yet and gets his shoulder up. Eddie hits a swinging neckbreaker and is quick to take to the top rope again. Edge meets him there but after some head-butts to his injured shoulder, Edge falls back to the mat. This time he lands the frogsplash onto the injured shoulder but Edge is still kicking out. A spear out of right field allows Edge to make the cover and the crowd counts along as the ref pounds the three count on the mat. This was a great match and Eddie’s frequent targeting of the shoulder made it even more believable. The crowd didn’t seem to pop as much in this match but I think it has been the best match so far. A solid performance from two more Hall of Famers and a must see match. Match Time:11:50

After the match there is a package video that is basically a shoot on Major League Baseball. The MLB was close to a player strike so the WWE thought it would be a good time to brag “Our Season Never Ends”. Even knowing it is an attack on MLB, I found this a nice jab at the world of Professional Sports.

We see The Un-Americans in the back and they are being interviewed by Jonathon Coachman. They make it a point to belittle the crowd and call them “Lazy, unappreciative, unresponsive and spoiled”. We all know Vince McMahon likes to take advantage of when the U.S.A. has a common enemy, Be it a Ivan Koloff in the cold war or Iron Sheik in Dessert Storm. He must have thought an Osama Bin Laden type character after 9/11 was going too far, and went with the evil Canadian angle instead.

We hear a “Can you dig it, Sucka!” before Booker T and his Partner, Goldust enter the arena to a nice pop. The heat is an all-time high when The Un–Americans enter next. They are all dressed in t-shirts with inverted American flags and they read “UN-AMERICAN”. They are made up of Canadian wrestlers Christian, Lance Storm and Test. Only the Tag Team Champions, Christian and Lance, come to the ring instead, and Lance is waving an inverted American flag and this makes for some great heat. Vince must have wanted to capitalize on the unity of the United States at the time with this troupe. And it worked. The ref raises the Titles high above his head and the championship match is about to begin!

Christian and Goldust start the match and Goldust is off to a hot start, delivering various punches and kicks. After a butt bump, Lance Storm comes in the ring to slow Goldust but he gets hit with a scoopslam. Christian eventually hits a few counter punches and is able to make the tag. Goldust doesn’t allow him to build momentum, though, and hits Storm with an inverted atomic drop. When Goldust points to Booker, as to signify a tag, the place erupts with cheers. The tag is made and Booker comes in hot. A sidewalk slam leads to a pin attempt for Booker but he only gets a two count. Goldust returns, after a tag, but a Christian distraction allows Storm to rake the eyes of Goldust. This leads to Storm throwing Goldust over the top turnbuckle and to the floor mats. Solid bump here. After Christian returns Goldust to the ring, he makes the tag and he and Storm double team Goldust for a moment. The crowd is super loud at this point with “U.S.A.” chants. Christian is quick to quiet them by continuing to beat on Goldust. Storm comes in off the tag but Goldust is able to hold the ropes and avoid his dropkick. Goldust follows up with a lifting Russian leg sweep and this leaves both men prone on the mat. The crowd is starting to buzz for the hot tag but Storm is able to make his tag first and Christian is able to stop Goldust from making his. Christian applies a side headlock but Booker starts to clap and the crowd soon follows suit. The rally powers Goldust to make the tag but the official is distracted by Lance Storm. Booker enters and clears the ring but the ref grabs him by the waist to stop the attack and make him exit the ring, claiming that he didn’t see a legal tag made. I am always a big fan of spots like this if they are done correctly, and this one definitely was. After Lance lays Goldust out with a clothesline, he goes for a cover and it takes a boot from Booker T to stop the count. Christian eventually tags back in and after some punches are exchanged both men are on the mat following a double clothesline. The ref begins his count as Goldust crawls towards Booker. Christian is able to grab the foot and stop him, while Lance runs over and pulls Booker from the apron. Booker chases Lance around the ring and when Goldust finally reaches his corner his partner isn’t there.

Booker is enraged now, and the ref is distracted by this. The distraction allows Storm to enter the ring with a pair of chairs. They go for the Con-Chair-To but Goldust ducks and they bang the chairs together. Goldust comes off the ropes and levels them both with a double clothesline. The arena is shaking with “U.S.A.” chants as Goldust finally makes the hot tag. He comes in swinging and clears the ring with clotheslines and back body drops. Booker takes to the top rope next and comes off quick to hit Christian in the chest with a missile dropkick. He goes for the cover and Goldust even comes in to throw Storm from the ring. Christian kicks-out as Goldust and Storm continue to brawl on the outside. Storm comes flying in the ring but Booker ducks his dropkick and the ref absorbs it instead. This eventually sets Booker up to hit them with a double scissor, that sends the crowd into a frenzy. Booker hits the Spin-a-rooni next on Christian, but the ref is still out and can’t count when he makes the cover. The crowd counts it out but this isn’t how things are done. Storm tries to come in and interfere with the belt but is laid out with a clothesline from Goldust. They clothesline Storm from the ring and Goldust joins him on the outside. When Booker T turns around though Test appears from nowhere to lay Booker out with a big boot. Test then quickly leaves through the crowd as Christian crawls over to make the cover. The crowd is in shock as the ref counts the three and The Un-Americans retain the Tag Team Titles. This was a great match, from the hot tag build-up to the illegal double teaming throughout, and I would recommend it to anyone. The story was well told and even the screwball finish was executed properly. Match Time: 9:37

We see a quick contest inside WWE’s World of New York nightclub. Nidia is picking her partner for a make-out contest that is being hosted by Jamie Noble. This is ridiculous stuff here. Her and her partner proceed to make-out on the couch as Noble cheers them on. Nidia was the first winner of Tough Enough, a WWE reality show where the winner is rewarded a one year contract. I’m sure this isn’t what she expected when she signed up. After this we are back in the GM Office with Stephanie and Bischoff.  The two are speaking on women’s positions in the company. Steph says that they “belong on top” and Eric agrees with her. They finish up by speaking about who the winner of the IC Title match will be.

The WWE Intercontinental Champion, Chris Benoit enters first and is representing SmackDown. The crowd must have been saving their pop for the challenger, Rob Van Dam. Because when he enters the place explodes. A test of strength starts the match but Van Dam is quick to start throwing some of his stiff kicks and Benoit is forced to leave the ring to regroup. Benoit returns to the ring and takes some more kicks before he catches one and takes RVD down. Benoit then applies a headlock and starts to wear on RVD. After he escapes, RVD springboards of the second turnbuckle and hits a crossbody. His momentum doesn’t last log and Benoit catches him with a brutal German suplex. Benoit continues to work the neck and goes for a cover, after a vicious snap suplex. But RVD kicks out. Benoit applies the Fujiwara armbar next and this is when RVD starts to rally. He escapes the hold with an arm drag takedown and tries to roll Benoit up with an inside cradle. Benoit kicks-out, and RVD is quick with another backslide pin attempt. But again, another kick-out. At this point we see some blood forming around the mouth of Chris Benoit. RVD attempts a springboard split-leg moonsault but it is countered when Benoit gets the knee up. Benoit “slits his throat” before going up top to attempt a diving head-butt. RVD moves though and the head of Benoit drives to the mat. Looking back, maybe not the best choice of move for a finisher. RVD now goes up top for the five star frogsplash but again Benoit avoids the attack. He is quick to capitalize by locking the crippler crossface onto RVD. Van Dam finally breaks the hold by getting his foot onto the bottom rope.

Benoit resumes the beating and the next highlight comes when RVD tries to jump onto the top turnbuckle but Benoit shoves him off it. The crowd pops as Van Dam lands on the security wall and Benoit is quick to join him on the outside. He then bangs RVD into the ring pole before returning him to the ring. After an elbow drop to the face we can see blood now in the mouth of Van Dam as well. These two dudes made sure there stuff looked brutal and sacrificed their bodies to do so. Benoit eventually starts to surfboard stretch Van Dam, and this is when he tries to rally. RVD attempts to muscle free from the hold but this ends with Benoit choking him with his own arms. The “RVD” chants begin but they avail him nothing and Benoit slams him to the mat by his hair. RVD manages to take Benoit to the mat and tries to hit the rolling thunder. Benoit moves though and he quick to lock-in another crippler crossface. He escapes with some elbows to the side of Benoit’s face but is quickly rolled up for another pin attempt. RVD kicks out and the match continues. A Hammerlock is applied to Van Dam next, and Benoit uses the hold to slam the exposed shoulder of RVD into the ring post. He keeps the hammerlock applied and uses it to transition into a northern lights suplex. With the hold still applied he returns RVD to his feet and delivers another northern lights suplex. A third one soon follows and this sets up Benoit up to apply another crippler crossface. RVD starts to wiggle towards the ropes but when he gets close Benoit transitions into a dragon sleeper. The escape eventually happens and the crowd explodes when RVD locks Benoit’s own crippler crossface onto him. The hold is eventually broken but RVD is gaining momentum and the crowd is behind him. He springboards off the second rope and nails Benoit in the throat, with a brutal kick. He goes for the cover but Benoit kicks out. This time when RVD goes for the rolling thunder which connects, but the pin attempt only gets the two. Van Dam attempts the monkey flip next but Benoit is right there to push him off the turnbuckle. This causes RVD to land on his family jewels on the top turnbuckle. Benoit tries to suplex him from the top turnbuckle but RVD counters it mid-air with a crossbody. This sets RVD up to hit a successful five star frogsplash and get the three count right after. This was an amazing match and these two legend’s moves are very stiff throughout. It has been rumored that this was supposed to be Edge vs. Benoit for the IC Title here but there was a change in plans. They put RVD into the picture because the wanted the IC Title to belong to RAW. Match Time:16:30

We see a quick clip next of Stephanie and Bischoff again. This time Bischoff is grinding her up about losing the Intercontinental Championship. She takes it well and leaves the room with a crazy cackle. I have to say that these segments are the worst of the show but I understand their purpose.

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